Silent Intentions
by Sick Hacker1990
Summary: Chapter 4 is up! The abyss has grown darker and darker. Someone is dead in Kisaragi and it's clear that there are other forces behind it. The answers are buried deep Atsuki Saijo. Get to digging. RyoxHibi
1. Sound of Silence

**I**

**Sound of Silence**

* * *

_Killing is about the only thing I live for these days. The act of committing it is not enough. I must breathe it, I must live it. I think the most joy one can get out of such an activity is to take a meek little mouse of a man, twist his brain just so and watch him commit atrocious crimes, killing with little regard for his own wellbeing. Yes, I have grown tired of killing people myself. Making people into my little puppets has so much more thrill in it, especially when I'm watching from afar._

_Then again I certainly don't mind a kill now and again._

**The world is filled with so much shit that it's almost impossible to wade through it. Doesn't mean that the world is made of it. You could say that the world is beautiful. However, before I teach you the ways of Lux-Pain, you must know this. Never. Let anything get in the way of your better judgement. Never. Not for the people you love, for helpless animals, nothing at all. That is the first mistake a person with our abilities can make. Our powers can be used to do so much, but what you don't know is that the way you use them determines the person you become. Even if you plan to use it for the purposes of good you MUST NOT go out of line. Obey the objective at all times. Ray calls Lux-Pain a blessing. It is a curse, and it will turn you into a shell of what you used to be if you do not show restraint. That is my only rule – be mature about your powers, and you will become all the more stronger for it. Do you understand? Good. Now lets' begin.**

* * *

I wake up to the sound of silence. It always gets me awake. I don't need any alarms or the sunlight or anything. I just need… to be ready to get up. And I am always ready for another day in completely despair. The amazing thing is that 'that' is what I always wake up thinking, every day. I guess you could say I like to put a lot of things into perspective, which is more than I could say than for who I was a few years before.

I get out of bed, or more appropriately I roll out of bed. I stagger to the closet and grab some clothes out. Anything that I can find really – I don't like to be overly fashionable. It's not exactly the way I attract attention anyway. My loose grip on my clothes forces them to drag along as I stumble to the bathroom. I don't take a really long shower, just in and out. I'm quiet as I shower with only the sound of the showerhead to keep me company. The shower doesn't calm me at all. Brushing my hair in front of the mirror and putting eyeliner on doesn't do this either. I calm down once I wrap a tie around my neck. This is when I become me. The tie is black and red, the colors twirling together like a candycane, in this gothic mix that seems to describe me more than any words could. It's my favorite and I always make sure to put it on.

I look down at the tie and I smile slightly. My tie always puts a smile on my face. I thought it was just cute when I got it but now it's grown on me. I am the tie now – the tie wears me. The rare smile that was on my face quickly disappears when I notice that I am now looking at the girl on the other side of the glass.

"What are you looking at?" I tell that scowling bitch, feeling the need to break her nose. "You piece of shit. You're a monster. Get out of here. "

She doesn't leave. I turn and close the door to the bathroom behind me.

Once I get down stairs. My mother is laying on the futon in the living room, her eyes closed. Whenever I see her like this, it annoys me like nothing else. I know that she's just pretending to be asleep and I have a sneaking suspicion that she knows that I know. I bet she also knows that I will never do anything about it, because I wouldn't have the nerve to talk to her that way. It makes me feel sick to my stomach when I see her acting like this. She's been like this ever since dad died but I was eleven at the time, but I was crying my eyes out and I got over it somehow. She was just being a lazy slob. I rolled my eyes. I don't say anything to her, and I just walk on.

My sister was already in the kitchen, making breakfast. I sometimes felt sorry for her. She is always smiling when I'm in the room, like she's happy but I know that she is not. I love my sister like any sibling should but she is sad deep down. Sometimes I wish she would smile for real. Some sign that she is truly happy but this never comes. She notices me as I pad inside, and she bears that same smile as always and I manage to force one. For her at least.

"Good morning," I say, my voice dry and hoarse.

"Good morning!" She says cheerfully. That mask of hers is on tight right now. I just wish she would just open up to me now. I would stay home and listen to all of the thoughts running through her head, all of her failed aspirations and her problems and why all those thoughts that I see run through her mind. She could cry in my shoulder. Maybe I would cry too, I don't know. Anything to just let me show that what I had first read this morning was a lie. More than anything, I just want to feel something that isn't disgust.

I just sit down. I don't say anything else. My sister notices this and lunges at me like a worried mother.

"Are you feeling alright?"

She frowns, feeling my forehead with her hand. "Are you sure you're alright? You look very pale."

"It's alright sis, really." I blink. "I'm fine, seriously. I don't want you getting upset about anything that isn't true."

My sister blushes, nodding her head. "Yes… yes, I understand. I know that you're fine but… I don't know. I know the things that go on in high school and, well, it's not a crime for one sister to be worried about another right?"

I smile at her. No matter how much she would fake her own smile, I know that she cared about my wellbeing. She loved me. I reassure her that I'm fine nonetheless. Just hide my own feelings. That's what I had to do if only to make her happy. "I know Yayoi. If there's anything on my mind, I'll make sure to tell you."

Yayoi beamed at me, leaned over across the table and kissed me on the forehead. "Good. You're the only thing that I have left in this world so… I'm sorry if it seems like I'm crushing you sometimes."

"You don't have to apologize…" I shake my head. "Really, stop it."

"I know." She patted my head and then drew me into a big hug. "I love you Nami."

* * *

I break her nose as I slam her face into the ground. She lets out a squeal in pain and I soak it in as best as I can because let's face it, we all enjoy causing pain. It's a human instinct to shiver in pleasure as we make people scream. The bitch grumbles loudly as I hold her down, cursing and spitting but I let out a huff. For a small girl, she certainly wasn't giving up on escape. I like the rebellious ones.

"Now now." I told her, running a hand around her puny neck. "Don't start. Or I'll rip your throat out with my bare hands."

She settles down for only a second, and I pounce. A cold wave of calm runs though her and I chuckle under my breath as I get up. She wasn't going to give me any more trouble.

"Oh… you've been a naughty girl haven't you?" I chuckle. "Been sticking your nose into places it shouldn't be. Well I've taken the liberty of breaking your nose in half so it won't be a nuicance."

She doesn't respond. I smirk. "Roll over." She does so. "Sit up, and stay still. Like a good girl." She does this obediently, perfect for me since this proves to me that I was successful. "Good girl." I crouch down on one knee so I'm staring her straight in the eye.

"You know why I brought you here? The place where this all began? Why, don't you already know you stupid whore? You've dug yourself too far and you are asking ME to let you out. Well here's some news for you hun – that isn't how this 've seen things that you shouldn't have seen. But you're wondering how I know this? You wanna know how I know?" I press the knife in my hand against my temple. "It's because I just KNOW. I just know… and I could go into specifics but… I think it's a waste of breath. Just know that I found you sneaking cookies from the cookie jar and now I'm going to cut you…"

I grinned at her. "Well that's not entirely accurate." I hold the blade edge of the knife out to the girl and smirk. "Now this is what I want you to do. I want you to take the knife in your hand and hold it tightly. And then once you do that, just press it tightly against your tiiiny neck and move it back and forth. Very slowly too… think you can handle that?"

The girl took the knife and pressed it the same exact way I told her to but… she hesistated. This got me rather annoyed with her.

"Why are you stopping?" I growl. "Cut yourself up! Do it now!"

She stares at me. She mutters something.

"What?" I glare, leaning in. "What did you say?"

"…S-Saijo… will… find you…"

I laugh. "Well I'll kill him too if this 'saijo' does find me… now cut."

* * *

The man with the gun was mad. That much was clear. If it weren't for the wild blonde hair covering his petite-sized face, he would be as easy to read as a children's book printed in large letters. The red in his cheeks and the craze in his eyes only exemplified this notion. One may think that the man with the gun had lost his sanity. This wasn't true, he still had it. He was just mad. Mad at… what exactly? This wasn't for certain. Even the man with the gun didn't know either.

The gun in the man's hand was pointed in a slant, down onto the back of a young woman's head. The black metal of the gun, a Taurus Millennium, was cold in his grip. It was heavy but the hand held it steady against the head in front of him. A finger close to the trigger. Loaded. Ready. Ready for what? The man with the gun wasn't sure of this either.

The woman with the gun against her head, a scared brunette with large cartoonish eyes and even more grand buckteeth, thought she knew what the man was ready for. For his demands. To be in control. And while this was part of his plan, it certainly did not circumface the fact that he had no plan and that he had no problem with killing her in cold blood. Tears were running down her cheeks. The cold metal against her head sent shivers along her spine, and it made her quiver like a scared child. Her breathing, jagged. Her hands, tied around her back. Her eyes, staring at the stain on the floor that was most certainly blood.

The two of them had been there for over two hours, sitting on the ground. No windows, no escape. The only escape in the general area was a door down in the lower area of the building, and that had to be packed with cops with guns the size of forearms, ready to shoot down anything that even so much as lightly tapped that door. The man was not thinking of this. He did not think of his own safety, but moreover something even more sadistic. He was thinking of nothing at all.

He was ready.

Ready for what? While he didn't know what, he knew he was ready to blow the cunt's head off if she did any funny shit. She didn't start anything to piss him off, except of course gab that big mouth of hers.

"My legs are asleep. It hurts…"

"Shut the fuck up."

"Please, j-just let me lay down at least."

"I SAID shut the fuck up you bitch!"

"Please…"

"If you don't shut your mouth this instant I will drill a hole so big you could fit a pipe in there!"

The woman grew quiet again, but just as she did one of the loudspeakers chirped in. "Louis?" it cracked.

The man with the gun perked up. He looked towards the security camera pointed right at him, a sneer crossing his face. "Yes. What is it?"

"Louis, we need you to put the girl down, slowly."

The man didn't speak at first, looking back down at his hostage with an even larger sneer than he had before. He looked back at the camera and growled. "Ain't no way I'm doing that you dirty pig. Only way I'm getting out of here is on a plane to Russia, or America. Where ever the fuck. Doesn't matter to me."

"We're trying to get that for you, but what we need –"

"Hah. You're talking to a damn brick wall lassie."

All was quiet for a moment. Then the speaker sprung into life again. "Louis? Louis. We are going to send someone up to speak to you Louis. Someone who wants to talk to you."

The man snorted. "No way in hell. You do that and I'll fill this bitch's head with lead! I-I'll fucking do it! Don't make me do it!

"He will be unarmed Louis. Just one person. He wants to talk to you."

The man with the gun let out a growl like a dog and bit his lip roughly. "Fuck no. FUCK no."

"He just wants to talk Louis."

"How should I even trust you? For all I know you could be sending up a whole team to get me!"

"We don't want to put you or the hostage in danger. Trust me."

The man with the gun stayed quiet for a moment, a long moment that hung in the air like a fog. The woman kept quiet. The man finally spoke. "Sure, whatever, but I'm watching you. If I smell anything suspicious, then this girl is getting her head blown off."

All was silent then. The girl cried silently on the floor and the man stood there without a word. He was watching the opening leading to the stairwell, his gun still against her head. Soon enough the sound of a door opening echoed through the halls and a single pair of footsteps slipped up, slowly, vibrating from the thin walls. The man with the gun tightened his grip to the point where it almost hurt, keeping track of where those footsteps where. He could hear that the negotiator was at about the top of the stairs, turning the gun to where the shadow of the man was. "Hands up," he growled.

The negotiator at the top looked a lot younger than the man with the gun had anticipated. Ash-hair lined the length of his forehead like a black bowl, the callicks at the front slanted upwards just enough to see his eyes. His face was thin with youth, pale, clear of blemishes or even freckles. He looked like a ghost in that respect except for those deep eyes. No dead man would have such thick eyes. The man with the gun stared as the boy stepped closer. The aim of his gun kept still. The boy didn't have his hands up.

"Hey! Hands up!"

The visitor's eyes were half open. He sighed. "Don't need to yell. Calm down." His hands slid up.

"Don't tell me what to do," the man barked at the boy.

The woman on the floor mouthed something to him, and the man with the gun saw this. He pulled the pistol back to her head. "The fuck did you just say?!"

The girl squealed. "N-Nothing."

"Sounded like something to me! Don't lie to me! Don't you ever lie to me!"

"I-I…" She slumped. "I-I-I'm not…"

"You better not be lying to me you bitch."

Her eyes welled up again, the blood caught in the back of her throat causing her to cough violently. "I know, I know, I'm sorry!"

The boy kept quiet all this time, and the Man tuned back to him. "So what? Are you getting the shit I asked for?"

The negotiator kept silent. "Yes. Yes we are."

"The tickets?"

The boy took a step forward. "Heading for America, yes."

The man shook. "Stay the fuck back. I'm warning you."

The boy took another step forward. "I'm not armed. You need to calm down. I'm here to help you."

"The fuck you are. Stay back!"

But those eyes…

Thoooseee eyessssss…

* * *

The hostage situation had lasted for about five hours and it only took me a minute to diffuse it. A regular silent infectee does not put up much of a resistance as far as external forces are concerned. I would like to think that they, the police handling these types of situations, would want someone like me to come along and clear these sorts of problems up but unfortunately the existence of Silent is as well accepted as the existence of vampires. Of course one may attribute vampires as similar to the way Silent work. Silent feeds of people in the exact same way. Enough of that though.

The man, named Louis deCarmo, had entered the post office at about 5 PM with a shotgun (A sawed off wellington as I was informed) and a pistol. Killed about five people, wounded seven others and physically took one hostage at the second story of the building. About five hours later he relented.

They called me in at about 8 PM. I was sent up after 9 PM, and the job was finished one minute afterwards.

Another successful job though for a minute I was anxious. Guns always make me paranoid, not to mention a little claustrophobic. Especially, Especially when they are pointed at me.

I left the scene as quickly as I could. The first rule of the FORT: Do not get attached. This is an unspoken rule but it's as obvious as any other rule. Attachment to the victims is hard for me though. Which is why I leave as quickly as I can. My heart is hard to do this, but not hard enough to not look back. I always look back.

And I never give my real name.

* * *

Yui Yamase had the time of her life.

This was almost impossible for her to admit. Yui was always a tough nut to crack. Very blunt and always focused on her job, her position as Chief of Police was one she fit in perfectly. No bullshit, no corruption, just as any chief of police should be. This changed once she got some alcohol in her system. If Yui got a taste of wine or a sip of cola, she became a changed woman. She was playful, flirty at times and always laughing. One of her coworkers might call her a lightweight, but they would have to look behind them just to make sure she wasn't behind them first. Getting drunk was one of Yui's guilty pleasures.  
Tonight she didn't need drinks. Harashino Hiro was enough.

Yui Yamase, the chief of police, hated the press out of sheer nature. The press in general were leaches, always looking for information off the record. They even discussed Yui's openness for the open-end of a rum bottle during a slow day, which only fueled her contempt for the press. Hiro was different. He was charming, handsome and had the most dynamic personality she had ever met. He was the kind of man who would open the door for an elderly woman, but would make a twisted joke about innocent things. Once he pointed to a metal statue of a rooster and asked if she would like him to "buy a metal cock."  
"No," she held in her laughter, "I wouldn't have anywhere to put it."

"Make room for it then! Everyone needs a metal cock." He grinned. "If my old cock didn't satisfy me the way it does now I would totally by that. The thing isn't big enough though.

Yui wasn't sure why she had laughed as hard as she had. She never liked dirty jokes, but Hiro had the ability to make her laugh at things she normally wouldn't.

And tonight was amazing too. They went to a nightclub because, hey, they were free. So why not? They laughed, they danced, and not an ounce of drink. They had stayed out late and called a cab to take them home. Yui and Hiro arrived back at her apartment, a spacey one-bedroom affair that was as classy as Yui had hoped for. Hiro was giggling as he stumbled in with her in tow, rubbing at his eyes. Yui couldn't help but laugh as well.

"Greatest night I've had in a long time," he said over and over between his jagged pants for air.

Yui didn't respond as she found her way out of his grip, locking the door behind her. Hiro fell against a sofa, clutching his face as he laughed. Yui turned and shook her head. "You're still laughing?"

"I know! It's like I've swallowed some b-b-butterflies," he chortled. "Are you sure you didn't slip anything to me?!"

"Not a single thing."

"Good! If you had I would call the cops on you, cuz' clearly you're insane and abusing your power!"

"Ohoho." Yui flipped her orange hair back, brushing it away from her eyes with her fingertips. "Very funny." She went to the cabnet and opened it up. Hiro was finally beginning to calm down as she brought out the bottle of rum. She poured a glass for him, and he chuckled.

"A chief of police drinking? For shame Yui."

"Oh please," She pressed the champagne glass into his hands. "Just drink it."

"Why should I?" He asked, looking down at the rum and spinning it around in the glass.

"It's my favorite," Yui said while pouring herself a glass. "I always go out of my way to have a bottle in my cabinet at all times. It's not going to turn you into stone so just try it."

"I don't know. I'm just not an alcohol sort of guy." He shrugged. "You of all people should know that."

"Oh just try it." She said, shaking her head. "Or I'll give you something to complain about."

"Is that supposed to mean something?"

"I don't know. What do you think it means?"

"Iunknow. That's why I asked."

She shook her head and clinked her glass against his. He kept quiet as she sipped. She stared at him. "Hey, what's wrong? You're so quiet." She leaned in. "You look so pale…"

He looked up at her, staying quiet. "Ahh, jeez Yui. We've been going out for so damn long. "

"And we have fun, right?"

"Of course. But, y'know, you always… look… well…"

The phone rang. Yui let out a loud groan. "Damn it…"

"You know," Hiro purred, "I didn't even know that phone worked!"

Yui shook her head and placed the glass down on the coffeetable. "It does but I always take calls on my cellphone. Who could be calling me at this hour?"

"Maybe you should go check?"

Yui sighed. She couldn't just ignore it, should she? She walked over to the phone, waving Hiro back to the drink as she picked up the receiver with one hand. She pushed the head of the phone to her ear and cleared her throat. "Hello?" She looked down at the picture on the coffeetable. The woman, purple-haired and happy, was staring right back at her. That smile on her face looked like a disappointed glare. Yui quickly pushed the photo down on the table where she couldn't see it. "Yes, this is her."

This was when her night took a turn for the worse.

* * *

The building placed in the middle of an abandoned field does not exist. There are no building documents of it's existence nor is there anything in the newspapers or even any papers that could ever link the acres of land that it is built upon. It does not exist at all. It exists physically in real life, but to the public and even most of the government it does not exist. That's all there is to it. Even if you were to make the case that it does exist (which in fact it does but at the same time does not) you may just write it off as just a boring manor in a boring part of England. The mansion itself is not elegant at all, resembling more as a square box than a house. It is unremarkable, completely grey and to great relief very indistinguishable. We would be out of a job if it were to stick out in any way.

As always the car driving me stops right in front of it, almost too close to the stoop. I open the door and find that we've parked almost on top of the first step. I don't say anything but deep down I want to. This guy was going to drive into a tree at this point. I just close the door to the car and walk up the staircase.

On the inside it looks like any home. I've always found it strange in just how commonplace the mansion was. There is only the bare minimum of furniture placed all around and the rugs are as grey as the walls on the outside. The whole atmosphere of the home is the color grey – melancholy and depressing with only a hint of boredom. If you were to ask me I would have no reason as to why it was built in such a way. You would then ask why in all the places in the wide world I would ever work in this place. It's so dreadful. I wouldn't answer you, but you must go through the chimney to fully understand.

I step into the parlor room and as always I flick the florescent light from above off. The only light that illuminates the room is the light coming from the fire in the chimney. The chimney is the only interesting thing in the parlor room, quite an obvious place to put a secret passageway. The panel used to open it is not in plain sight. For one to open the passage, they would have to stick their hand into that very same fire. It's all smoke and mirrors, for there is really no fire in the chimney. Once you do that, you press the button on the other side.

The doors to the elevator open up after that. The elevator is cramped and cold, big enough to only hold four people at a time. The ride downwards is long and your head spins as you step off, but it's only natural when you're riding an elevator deep into the ground.

I step onto it backwards with my back turned away, clicking the button leading down. I close my eyes and breathe. The near-silent sound of the elevator descending the only company I had.

"**I heard about your last job."**

I opened my eyes. "You have?"

"**I hear everything that goes on. How long have you been here? You should be aware of that by now."**

"I am aware of that."

I don't turn back to face Liu Yee. I wouldn't really need to – he always looked the same. Paler than I was, his hair slicked back, his eyes small. Always wearing a red vest with khakis. Looking at me as an equal rather than an underling, which is more than I can say for many others. His voice however shows some sort of dissatisfaction. An emotion, something you don't see coming from him.

"**You were sloppy. Rushing in like that."**

"He had a gun pointed at someone's head. I was putting her first ahead of everything else at the time."

"**Yet you were sloppy. Even so he could have easily killed her from that risk you seemed so willing to take."** He paused. **"I won't deny that it was a good job though. Very quick." **

"Thank you."

"**I would be quite surprised if you don't get promoted for this."**

"I," I reply, "will never get promoted."

"**I already know this. However, I must confess that I feel that your powers are not being used to their full potential. It seems like they're wasting your talents."**

"No, no they are not." I shook my head. "Liu. The FORT as a whole does not approve of me. They think I am useful. The best agent they have, they tell me. The chief goes out of his way to commend me as such. You even compliment me. However, the FORT as a whole though does not approve of me. I cannot fathom why."

"**Perhaps,"** Liu Yee glared, **"you are too immature."**

"Perhaps?"

"**Perhaps."**

"I don't think it is that. They promoted you when you were thirteen."

"**That was many years ago."**

"Even so," I concede, "that still doesn't change the fact that I've given my body and soul to the FORT and they do not appreciate that. I'm surprised that the chief even commends me the way he does."

"**You are a useful agent of the fort. I should not be speculating on your faults and, in that same light, you should not do the same."**

"I know."

The elevator finally arrived. Liu Yee let out a silent grunt and placed his hand on my shoulder. **"You are a part of the FORT Saijo. Your efforts are appreciated. I cannot speak for the chief in this case but even though the whole of the FORT is against you, it may bring you piece to know that he is on your side."**

I turn my head. "Thank you."

He does not show any emotion. He just lets go of me and without a word disappears. I sigh and step out of the elevator into the dim exterior of the FORT headquarters.

My name is Atsuki Saijo. And this is my home. The FORT.

* * *

Author's Note

Oh yeah. I'm feeling great right now. Just wrote this in a few days, I'm on a roll. Seriously I've had alot of fun writing the first chapter. Just a warning though - I might move this onto another profile, one that reflects who I am in the now. If that makes any sense. Lord knows it makes no sense to me.

Okay, now that the chapters over, how'd it go guys?


	2. All the Loose Ends

**II**

**ALL THE LOOSE ENDS**

_**WELCOME TO KISARAGI. HOME OF THE OLD JAPAN. POPULATION 4,966**_

_Humans are all strange. I am a human and even I am confused by them at times. It's as if they want to make it a point to be elitist. Why should people judge on how different someone else is when no matter how one tries to come at the subject we are all meant to burn? All of this euphemistic stuff is just so tiring as well, when human try to tone down the violence a word may portray just in case a weaker individual winces at the way it sounds on their tongue. Why can't they just come out and say "you are inferior to me?" Humans like to dance around their own ideas though and it's so tiring. Maybe that explains why I like to be blunt. Especially when I kill someone._

The bespectacled man smiled as his partner waited for a whole entire city to transform into a madhouse. He had always had a talent with indirectly messing with people, using words instead of physical means to fool his victims, but this, THIS was terrific. His plan so far wasn't flawless

"Graham," He began with a hint of a chuckle. He spoke in a heavy hint of Russian, deep with despair but filled with utter delight. "You really are something. Your power with the mind, it is incredible."

His partner looked back at him, a sickeningly sly smile crossing his features. "I would opt to agree with you there. I certainly have outdone myself."

"You have. But in only a few weeks. I must admit you were slower than you usually were."

Graham laughed. "I must admit it was rocky. This place has a strange vibe and it was being very disruptive, but all in all it turned out perfectly. Such chaos, such madness, such violence, it's all so delightful. And soon enough it will become even more appalling."

"As should every city you visit should be plunged into." The bespectacled man adjusted his lenses only slightly, the light from the moon above reflecting off of them. "Though knowing you, that would be too easy for you."

"Yes yes. No challenge in it I'm afraid. This city was a perfect diversion though, kept my blood boiling and my head spinning."

"Your favorite job as a spy?"

"Indeed," Graham grinned. "Very fun. I was almost caught you know. There was an agent teaching at the high school, doubling as a photographer. I cut the rat's head off."

"Yes, I heard from Edwin. Did you really need to do it yourself though?"

"Oh I know what you're thinking. 'Graham, you could spot a rat from hundreds of miles away and you couldn't spot this fool from the crowd?' He was a good actor though, I didn't see all that much in him. And his damn corpse caused a little more trouble than I anticipated. Had to kill two more, teenagers that time. And then some detective went hunting after me because some people from the internet noticed that those two freaks went missing. Couldn't have him snooping around. "

"Certainly messy of you."

"Yes, it is. I hate getting my hands dirty of such… filth. You could never blame me for that though. I had to. I couldn't just get someone else to kill them for me – my servants would become liabilities and I'd have to kill them too. No, it had to be by my hand."

The bespectacled man adjusted his light grey tie and coughed into his hand. "I don't believe I was criticizing you. It just seemed out of character."

"Mm yes, like the main character of a story written by a eight year old."

The man grinned. "Wouldn't stop you from reading it. You couldn't help yourself."

"Of course it wouldn't. The world is so… pathetic now. It's people, it's art, it's books… I would accolade a boy with as many awards as possible if he were to create something that stood out. I heard that Arthur Mays was staying here but I saw neither hide nor tail of him. A shame. Ahh, but it doesn't matter does it. Certainly not now. Even if anything that was worth salvaging from this puny town, it's much too late."

"Hmm. Do I detect a hint of regret within you Graham?"

"Please. Can't I have the company of disappointment once in awhile?"

"But it is _not_ like you."

"It's not."

"Then why?"

Graham turned to the man, mildly irritated. "Does it not occur to you that a monster can feel? I know that such an idea might not even conjure up in that dark mind of yours."

"Mind telling me why?"

Graham spun away from the bespectacled man, huffing loudly. "Well. If you must know.,," He grinned. "I… enjoyed this place."

The man suddenly grew grim. His lips pressed together and he stared down at Graham. "…**what?**"

"I can't help it. This place has such a devious, evil air around it. Violence just happens here! The currency here should be pieces of bone! So many bodies! If I rub off a little of my spell on someone, the next day they'll start eviscerating complete strangers Normally it would take them days to just attack someone but the people here… THEY must have strived to accomplish such immoral things! It must be in their deepest darkest desires! IT was like THIS place is meant to be my personal playground, and I used it as such."

"But you had a job."

"And I believe I did that to the best of my abilities."

"BUT you HAD a job. And you were DISTRACTED. You could have destroyed this place in even less time than you're willing to admit."

"…" Graham scoffed. "I don't believe I have to explain myself. Regardless of how long it took, this town is ours and I did it ahead of schedule. Can't you just accept this?"

"I can't." The bespectacled man replied grimly. "In fact, what you just said explains a lot."

"Explains what?" Graham lifted an eyebrow. "Whatever do you mean?"

"It explains how you revealed yourself."

"Rubbish. I was as invisible as a fruit bat in a murky black cave. None of the townsfolk caught on to my antics. They NEVER DO!"

"You know exactly what I'm referring to. I meant the boy. The ash-haired boy."

"I… him?" Graham laughed vaguely. "Surely you aren't referring to him! He was nothing! He was a fluke! The little rat was lucky enough to have such a small brain that I wasn't able to control!"

"The boy, he is different. He told others. About you being an Original."

Graham appeared shocked. "Impossible."

"The fortune teller knows. I checked her."

"What? No. I scanned her this morning!"

"You were rushing." The bespectacled man shook his head. "That is not good."

Graham looked down at the city below, scratching his head. "Oh dear. If she knows… then certainly…"

"The red-headed girl must be wise to your tricks as well. She certainly would have heard it from a little bird somewhere. And the newcomer, the other ash-haired boy, HE is close to the fortune teller. He must know as well."

"HE isn't important."

"HE, from what you told me the other day, might have been an agent. SO far we've run into two agents. One you killed, and another fighting amongst Hibiki Kiryu. So this didn't seem strange to you?"

"Well when you put it like that it does seem out of placeee-"

The bespectacled man wrapped his leather gloves around the collar of Graham's bright-blue jacket. Graham found himself hovering over the ground, being lifted by his collar by the thin man. The billycock that donned his head always was no longer covering his pale face. Scar tissue lined his face, his eyes and mouth stretched to cartoonish proportions like that on grotesque pumpkin. His reddened lips were pursed and his lopsided eyes were squinted and the man named Graham knew that he was fuming.

"**Graham,**" The bespectacled man growled in an angry falsetto.** "You know how much I dislike loose ends.**"

Graham smirked into the man's dark eyes, clearly unafraid. The man was ugly, which is why his face was constantly covered by a mask or by his billycock, but Graham knew that his personality was just as hideous. "Don't try your intimidation tricks on me. I am quite aware that you are not a fan…"

"**Then you sew these loose ends up. You go down there and fix your own mistakes because I am not being held responsible for what you've done.**"

"S-Surely you're overreacting. The boy, he hasn't even come looking for me! And while I am quite sure the fortune teller knows something is going on, what is she going to do? Read us our fortune? She may have abilities but in the end she is weak in both mind and physical ability. Come now, you're overreacting!"

"That is not what I am worried about. Rui Yamase and that boy can die with the rest of them. What I am worried about is that they know. I am certain that if the fortune teller knows of what is happening, no matter how abstract this knowledge maybe, the chances of them knowing is greater. And it is your fault."

"But..."

The man dropped Graham quite suddenly to the ground, pushing the billycock over his face again. "Everyone in the goddamn world can know of us. They can be aware of our presence. What is of importance is that THEY don't know. That's all that matters."

Graham pouted, brushing his bright blue clothes off with the back of his palm. "So what you're asking is that I change our... MY whole agenda just so I can deal with some stupid kid? I mean really, she maybe special but she's just a stupid child!"

"It matters not."

Graham went quiet, and looked on at the morning sun. "If I must… then I shall. They will all be dead by sunset."

The bespectacled man grinned in approval. "Delightful. Oh and… good job on the animals. Quite the sight to see…"

My name is Atsuki Saijo and everyday I drown in a sea of emotions that are not mine. During long nights I can't sleep because there are so many things swirling around that it makes it impossible for me to even feel drowsy. I live off of emotions like I would the blood in my bloodstream, and while it has been made possible for me to feel nothing I still have to smile when I greet the woman at the desk. She smiles back, and I want to tell her to not patronize me. I say nothing. I just walk into the first room on the right, the same one the desk clerk points me to.

"Atsuki." The chief said as I entered the meeting room. Six other men in dark suits looked up at me. "Very nice of you to join us. Have a seat."

Ray Plateare is a mystery to me. He brisk man, well-built even for a strong man such as himself. He has a broad frame but a thin wirily height. He is no bodybuilder but a man of personal discipline who does not hold himself upto standards society has built. He looks like a firefighter. No, scratch that, he looks more like the fire itself. His skin is a deep shade of tan, his hair the thickest blond hair I have ever seen. His face is beautiful. He is beautiful. His beauty is the kind that most women would be jealous of. And yet his intelligence can fold that of anyone else that I've ever personally known. He is logical, meticulous with his decisions and it showed. He runs the FORT with the willpower and charisma of a fair king. And he is the only associate running the FORT who sees something within me, which I suppose is why he was the only one smiling as I entered the room.

I nodded and took my seat quietly at the end of the table. I must admit that sitting at the position made me nervous. It put me in the spotlight, a place I didn't normally enjoy being in. I sat up and looked at Ray.

"Great job last night," Ray said, writing something on the pad of paper placed just below him. "We only saved one but the odds of success were very low. And-" He coughed into his hand. "you performed much better than some people had anticipated."

A man to the right shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

"It's my job, sir." I replied, looking back and forth between the men at each side. "I only wished I had gotten there sooner."

Ray shrugged. "A wild gunman is a very hard thing to spot Atsuki, don't worry. You did all you could. However…" He paused, pushing the pad of paper under the table before looking straight over at me. His look was unyielding and that smile even more so. "Giving praise is not what I called you here for. Not today certainly."

I stared. "Alright." Something grew deep in my chest. I didn't know exactly what it was but made me even more nervous. Was he going to promote me? Was he reassigning me? He didn't get to me right away though, leaving me with this foreign emotion deep in my chest. It had appeared I entered a few minutes early and the chief was wading through some business with funding. As you might expect funding for the FORT consisted of under-the-counter payments instead of fund-raising but that's about all I would gather.

"You've known since day one that the job of the FORT is not to save lives, but to find traces of the Original. Correct?" He didn't wait for me to answer because I assumed he already knew the response. "The Original is the, err, 'original' infectee of Silent, of which we have no idea of discerning at all. The only way we can even find the Original is following the trail of the people who were also infected by him or her."

"Who go on to infect others, who go onto go insane and commit crimes. I was always told that Silent is like a virus but affects just people's minds in such a way that they become insane or have psychopathic tendencies."

"Correct." He turned and looked at the mustached man on his left. "Saijo has a bright head on his shoulders, I tell you." He looked back and smiled. "Seems you remember. No need to go the long route then. Long story short - after seeing how you did with the last job, I've decided you need a better job. We're sending you out Atsuki." I nodded and he continued

"We've found a trail that we think might be the Original and we've thought you would be the perfect choice to go there."

The men at the table looked grim and said nothing. "I... why?"

"I'll explain in a moment. Now the circumstances of this mission are odder than what you are used to. You'll get backup from us at the station via telephone but other than that you will be on your own. No one will be going with you. Though I…" He went under the table and pulled out a stack of papers. He flipped through them. "I believe that there's another agent there, he was the one who clued us in on this hit. I don't remember his name though."

"He's a stakeout," a bald man on the right corrected the chief. "Russel. He's the American."

"Ahh yes," Ray came close to grimacing. "I remember him."

I picked up on this line of conversation. "Chief, I don't want to interrupt but... he's stakeout?"

"His skills aren't exactly that of handling situations, let's put it that way. He's better at observe and report than anything you're qualified for, and nothing like the assistance Liu Yee was. But he was the one who reported to us so he knows more about the situation than even I do. You may want to talk to him."

"Chief. Sir." I started. "Where exactly am I going? What's going on? Why am I being sent out?"

Ray just stared at me. "Atsuki. I will be honest with you. We-I AM not sending you out because of your performance last night. We're sending you out because you're about the only person we can send out. We're completely swamped here... Time is of the essence." He pointed down a yellow folder he had sitting by his side. He handed it off to one of the men to his right, who passed it down to me. "I'm sure you don't mind right? All the information is in the folder. I just wanted to touch base with you."

"But..." I looked down at the folder. "Why?"

"The information is in the folder Saijo." Ray put bluntly. Whenever he speaks I always imagine him tucking me into bed. His voice is always so soft, even when he's being very serious. I blinked before getting up from my seat. That was my cue to leave it seemed, since in the time it took me to stop looking at the folder the whole meeting started into another subject. I quickly made myself scarce.

As I made my way out of the meeting room and back into the office, I looked back down at the thin folder that was in my hand. Was this all the information I needed? It certainly seemed light, as though there was nothing in it at all. I flipped the front edge open, revealing a piece of paper taped onto the back. I switched my eyes between the contents of the folder and this yellow piece of paper. Finally curiosity overcame me and I read the paper.

Atsuki

I apologize for lying to you back there. I wasn't being entirely honest

to you. I had to make sure none of the director's know

of your connection to this. I'm letting you in this case. I think

you can handle it. I've known you've been wanting to go back to

Kisaragi and personally I think you may want to personally

get involved.

Ray

I looked back at the papers on the other side of the folder. I wasn't sure what to think of this. After all this time... what has it been? Four years? It's been such a long time. So many thoughts were running in my numb mind. What did Ray mean by 'personally get involved'? I closed the folder up and quickly made my way to a quiet spot in the office, away from everyone else. I needed to focus. I opened the folder up again and began to read the text.

The owner of the Todoho was stressed out, though this normally wasn't strange because he was always stressed. It was unusual today because he was actually showing just how stressed he was. Ryo was a young man of about nineteen, oddly mature for his age and most definitely calm. He didn't freak out over small things and always saw things from a logical standpoint but today was different.

This was the week before universities started and lined right and left students were rushing around getting their books at the last minute. While Todoho only sold rare books, the textbooks and reading materials that the place pawned off at times was a hit during the school season. His assistant, Ms. Handa, had suggested it as a way to boost sales and he thought it would be a perfect idea. What he wasn't expect was the stream of students filling his store to it's very limits, not to mention his regular customers coming at full force. It was almost enough to make Ryo hyper-ventilate.

Even at Five AM in the morning it had customers. Ryo couldn't stand this.

"I can't stand this," he told Ms. Handa through a long thorough sigh that strung along onto another sigh. "I'm not getting enough sleep as it is!"

Ms. Handa was concerned, but not overly upset. She was a student herself and she knew that there was no place in Kisaragi that even had textbooks, so the ironic monopoly that Ryo forced himself into was actually a good thing. Ryo was just a boy who wanted to sleep in. It was nothing she hadn't dealt with in her several years of helping him with the store.

"Come now Unami-san." She said with her cheeks slightly puffed out, a cute expression if she weren't annoyed. "You can't just slump in the study like this. You're tired but staying in here isn't going to help the customers out there."

"I…" Ryo yawned. "I can't keep my eyes open Ms. Handa."

"I've lost track of how many times you've said that over the years," Aida huffed, "But I know for a fact that you've gotten up each and every time. Aren't you glad that your business is booming?"

Ryo adjusted the glasses on his face and looked up at Ms. Handa with a look of quiet desperation. "Depends on your definition of 'glad' and 'booming', because I see it all as a bad thing."

"Come on Unami-san, stop being such a stick in the mud." She coiled her slender hand around his arm and tugged on it. "This is your store! I'm just the hired help! I can't handle all those people out there!"

"Ms. Handa, you're the hardest worker I've ever had. If there's anyone who could handle a crowd like that it's you. "

"Oh!" Ms. Handa blushed just a little. "Thank you Ryo, that's very-" She stopped dead and pouted again. "Flattery isn't going to get you anywhere Ryo-kun. Now get up."

"Ughhh… please don't call me that. You know how much I hate THAT?"

"If you don't get up I'll call you that for the rest of your life."

Ryo stopped in his tracks, and just sighed loudly. "Alright. Alright. I'll go out there. You made your point quite clear." He sighed, stumbling up with his one arm in Handa's. "I'm just going to get changed though."

"No time," Handa said swiftly as she pushed Ryo to the door, "Just wear your robe."

"Are you seriously suggesting that I go out there with only a robe on? These are OUR customers Ms. Handa!"

"It's 5 Am in the morning Ryo-kun, they're not going to care if you wear a suit or a robe."

"I-I will. And stop calling me Ryo-ku-"

The phone rang loudly in the room just as Handa reached for the door. She let out a loud grunt, opened the door and pushed Ryo out. "I'll get that! You go outside!"

"Alright," Ryo said reluctantly. He looked back at the door, wondering what the phone call was about, and turned to see that everyone man woman and child was staring at him. He slumped nervously and waved to them. "Oh! H-Hello everyone! Um, let's f-form a line to the left so we ca-"

The door swung open and Handa, who looked like she had seen a ghost, handed the phone to Ryo. "It's for you. "

Ryo turned and looked at Handa, confused. "Who is it?"

"It's the coroner's office. They say they need to see you. You need to take this.

"The coroner's office?"

"Yes Ryo." Handa said, annoyed and a little scared.

"B-But whatever for?" Ryo pushed Handa, putting the phone up to his ear with his eyes directly on Ms. Handa. "Why are they calling me this early in the morning?"

"Ryo-san!" She sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. "They say they found a body! You have to go down and identify it! They said it might…" She stopped, looked around the store and then leaned in. She whispered to him, "… they say it might have been that **Rui** girl…"

Rui Yamase...

_**"Why are you stopping? Cut yourself up! Do it now!"**_

_Rui looked up, tears running down her face. "Saijo will..."_

_**"What? What did you say?"**_

_"…S-Saijo… will… find you…"_

It is unusual for me to feel any strong emotions, but once I read her name I froze.

The fortune-teller. Rui Yamase was... dead? I did not believe this. It just seemed impossible. No. She couldn't be dead. It just blew my mind to even think of such an idea. As I read further on it was discussed that the evidence showed that the wounds on her neck were self-inflicted. Rui was a sad girl but to my recollection she had never been so depressed that she would commit suicide.

I quickly flipped through the rest of the report. I was being sent out tonight. All of this felt like a blow to the head. Maybe if I was told this a week ago I could somehow comprehend it. I would still be shocked, yes, but at least I would have time to grasp it. They were sending me out as quickly as possible though and no matter how I felt of the matter. I would have no choice but to listen and do as I was told.

But... Rui? Why?

Ray was giving me a chance. Perhaps he thought I would want to go there? Despite the fact that he owned the FORT, he was a sympathetic man. This is the sort of thing I'd expect him to do. I wasn't going to let it go to waste. I was going to take this job and head out that night.

I hate people. Ever since I was a kid I've had a deep hatred for all of mankind. They used to call me a freak, ME, a FREAK. They could have called me a loser and it wouldn't have hurt me so much as irritated me. I was a freak though, and that hurt deeply. THAT was what I went by because I stood out from them. They also called me the strange girl with the tie, the one with that big dog. They said I didn't have any friends, but that was the truth because I didn't want any friends. At least no fellow freaks who were really strange. At times I think that I'm a hypocrite for saying that but I was no different from anyone else. I realized that, regardless of how they felt, I wasn't a freak. I was more normal than they could ever be.

Today I didn't feel like going so I skipped. I didn't tell Yayoi about it, as far as she knew I was at school just learning. I had not skipped a high school day once, so it was a first for me. I used to skip school all the time when I was younger, when I was special. Now I was nervous, like I had stolen a purse or something.

I just wandered town after that. When you skip school you think that everyone is looking right at you, and it makes you feel so tense. Their eyes are like searchlights, scanning you to see if there's anything wrong with you. You hope that a teacher from the school doesn't cross the next corner, sees you and take you in to school anyway. Then they call your house and they ask for your parents. BUT your dad's dead and your mom is a lazy bitch so the only person they can talk to is your sister. Then everyone in school starts talking about how you're a bastard child and how you live with your sister and you must be gay for her or something like that, which was the entire reason why I skipped school in the first place. I didn't want to deal with any shit so I was cautious.

What normal everyday people might not know is that skipping school limits your choices of what you can do. You could go home, but if you didn't want anyone to know you skipped then you would have to sneak into your room and when you live in an apartment it's kind of hard. So home is offlimits. If you go into a store by yourself the store clerks watch you nonstop like you have a skimask over your head. They normally do this out of habit but when it's eleven AM in the morning and you walk in with a school uniform on it's like a bullseye on your back. So going into stores is out of the question. Yuzi still owns a computer shop in town and he normally didn't mind kids hiding in his shop, but the guy severely creeps me out so he's not a possibility either. So as I sat there in the shade of a tall tree at the Yuhigaoka House apartments, I realized that I should have just gone to school.

I used to hang out at Yuhigaoka House all the time and it had not exactly aged well over the past couple of years. Rust and filth seemed to line the walls like ivy. No one really lived there anymore, not since they found a group of child molesters grouped in there. It was like a frat house for pedophiles, and they were there for awhile. Certainly didn't scare me off - every cop in the whole city knew who I was and if I had disappeared for only five minutes they would find me, so I knew the sick bastards wouldn't even think of coming after me. So I figured that, after so much evil stuff happening there in over the span of a year, people were of course turned off from the idea of ever living there. So Yuhigaoka House became my little safe place, my home away from home.

The playground was empty, as it always was. The swings were void of rust but they looked old anyway, but I didn't mind. It wasn't like my standards were high for a swing. I just sat down on the swing, didn't move much apart from swinging my legs only a tiny bit. For someone on a swing, I wasn't entirely upto swinging around. In fact just sitting down on the swing made me feel a little depressed. I zoned out, my hands went numb and I just sat there for I don't know how long. I was thinking about the world and all the things in it, nothing complex but enough to take me out of the world.

"Nammiiii... Nammmiiii."

How long had I been out? My arms were asleep and I struggled to get them to move. I turned my head to look in the direction of the voice, and I was surprised to see my friend Mayuri standing over near the tree. "O-Oh! Um..."

I was surprised to she her out of school. I had never seen her with anyone else or even in school, but when I'm with her it's almost as though I'm a part of something. She's one of my only friends and she makes me feel like I'm special. I'm not special, not anymore, but Mayuri doesn't care. I get along with her so well that I never worry about what she thinks of what I say or what I do. When I'm with other kids I become so self-conscious of what I do or what I say, but Mayuri is so open and so honest that I never have to think. Even so, the second I realized it was her standing off to the side I looked away from her.

"What are you doing?" She asked in that soft voice of hers.

I didn't look back at her. It wasn't that I was ashamed but a little embarrassed.

"You know it's not good to skip class," Mayuri told me with a sly little smile.

I laughed a little nervously. "I, ah…"

Mayuri just laughed and took my hand, pulling me up from the swing. "Don't worry Nami. You're always so tense, always thinking so much. Just let it all go! This isn't your first time skipping, right?"

I shook my head. "Mayuri~chan, I'm fine! I used to skip school all the time, I ain't nervous!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure you're not." Mayuri just grinned. "Come on. S'no fun doing this alone. Just stick with me and you'll be fine."

I rub my neck nervously. "U-Um, sure!"

_**WELCOME TO KISARAGI. HOME OF THE OLD JAPAN. POPULATION 4,965 **_

The sign that greeted me as I arrived was new. It appeared as though it was placed in the ground that very day, and it had stuck out at me. The _old_ Japan? Kisaragi was a rural town that was conflicting with it's own heritage and modernization, big concrete buildings and wooden shacks battling back and forth in a war that appeared to be waged for centuries. Now as I stared at the sign, I realized just who had won.

As I closed the gap from the bridge leading into Kisaragi, I came upon the familiar sight of a long stretch of road with two single buildings on each side. Compared to the modernize view I got from walking over the bridge, these sculptures were worn out. They must have been idling there inactive for years. As I merged into the rightmost sidewalk, I caught a glimpse of someone in the distance. A man with a worn out brown vest was laying up against the brick wall. Normally the man wouldn't catch my attention, but he was blocking the path with his outstretched foot. He looked like a foreigner.

"Excuse me," I said offhandedly. He didn't appear to look up and just moved so I could move.

He spoke though. "You're the guy who I sent for right?"

I blinked and stopped in my tracks. "W...What?"

"Atsuki Saijo. That's your name right?" I didn't answer. Who was this guy? The man waved his hand around. "Now I understand there's reason to keep that a secret but I don't have much time." He grew slightly grim despite the smirk on his face. "My name is Russel."

"Oh." I said. "You're the one who sent out for-"

Russel let out a slight, nervous laugh. "Now now... ehh, just stop right there. Wouldn't be a good idea to keep going, might step on a landmine." He turned away. "I think we're alone. I hope. C'mon, we don't have much time. I need to be at work in a hour and..." He stopped. "Just c'mon."

I stared at him, confused as to why he was acting so strangely. "Is there something the matter."

"Yes!" He growled. " 'course there is! But I can't explain it here, out in the open. Just follow me."

I shrugged and did as I was told. Russel led me into town, looking back and forth every now and again. He led me slowly through the shopping district and the effects of the war between Old Japan and New Japan became clear.

Kisaragi had changed. It certainly did not look differently. In fact it looked as though I had left only yesterday. And yet… there was a certain miserable air that struck a chord in me. As I could recall many of the shops that were here before had reopened as different stores, as there was an abnormal amount fast food places. The sky above me was a big blotch of blue, clashing against the white of the buildings I was looking at. Rows and rows of skyscrapers rose into the sky, piercing the sky like large daggers. It appeared a lot more modern than before.

It still felt like Kisaragi though, even with the buildings. I was back.

Russel's voice broke me out of my trance. "We're almost there buddy. S'not too long now."

"It's no problem." I told him. "I find it strange that you would be living near all of these shops. There doesn't seem to be apartments or anything similar around."

Russel laughed and rubbed his nose with his sleeve. "Well I guess I'd have to live in one of these shops then wouldn't I?"

I paused. "I... guess so."

Russel chortled again before turning down the corner and stopped at a shop. He fishes his keys out of his pocket as I looked up at the sign up above. I asked, "You own a convenience store?"

The man with the hat didn't respond and just grunted as he fiddled with the keys. "Ahh jeez," he growled.

I sighed and turned away, looking out amongst the full crowd of people walking past. The shopping district was busy at this time of day, even on a school day. It was hard to make out anyone specific through the walkers but then I spotted... someone. A girl with red hair and pale complexion... Did I know her? She looked familiar, but I didn't know anyone so pale before. Was she... no, couldn't be.

The girl must have noticed me staring at her. She looked back at me, rolling her eyes. "Who are you staring-"

The girl went wide-eyed as she stared at me. She was dressed in very dark clothes and donned a very puffy hat that covered the top of her head, and a striped tie that she wore quite lopsidedly. She stared at me for the longest time, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I knew this girl. I wouldn't have the first clue who she could be but there was some familiarity that ran through my mind. She took a step closer to me, biting her lip nervously. She took another step back before moving full force towards me.

"A-Atsuki…" She said before hugging me, burying her head into my chest. "Oh Atsuki, I knew you would come back… I knew it."

And that was when it finally dawned on me that this was Nami Kamishiro, the girl that could talk to animals.

Author's Note

I'm still trying to find my stride unfortunately. ^^; With school and all it's almost hard to find time to write, but I somehow managed to get it under a week. Haha. I think I should warn you - there's going to be a few OOC's in this story, but most of them won't pop up much. Only one that plays a part in all of this is the man in the glasses... by the way, who could that be? :O Hmm?

I'd also like to ask that if you guys liked the story, feel free to review. My Self-esteem would thank you for it. Haha!


	3. People Don't Understand

**III**

**PEOPLE DON'T UNDERSTAND  
**

_**WELCOME TO KISARAGI. HOME OF THE OLD JAPAN. POPULATION 4,965**_

_**

* * *

  
**_

_I've been philosophical ever since High School. When I was a kid I never worried about huge problems like "What is life?" or "Does luck exist?", but I was naïve. It also appears that so many of the kids in my class are just as naïve. One kid in my math class asked that why couldn't the poor just print more money. They don't understand at all! People do not understand! __**THEY COULD NEVER TRULY UNDERSTAND WHAT I UNDERSTAND AND THEY SHOULD ALL DIE. ALL THE INFERIORS SHOULD DIE.**_

_Though when I consider that in the back of my mind, they aren't that bad. We all have our differences right? That's what my parents told me. Humanity is a puzzle and we all fit in together._

_I'm just suggesting that some of the pieces are ripped and therefore useless, and must be disposed of. That's all._

_

* * *

_The bespectacled man thought for a long time, perhaps for minutes or even hours. He always had a plan. As a man of his stature he had a handle on everything but honestly been clueless as what to do. Graham had told him he had everything under control and now, well, look what happened. He was careless, and this certainly was no fault of the bespectacled man because Graham had always been so thorough and... NEAT. He couldn't foresee Graham of all people failing at this job. He was only supposed to grab those two children and he got distracted. He left loose ends too.

If there was one thing that the bespectacled man disliked, it was loose ends. It was enough to get him to feel anger, if there was even a cell in his body that wasn't emotionally dead.

Perhaps... he could wait. Not too long. Long enough to let people forget.

The bespectacled man sat back in his seat. Yes. That would be the best strategy. He grinned. It was all coming together now.

* * *

In a quiet little corner of Kisaragi, on a not so quiet street, lay a sweet shop named simply Sweet Ring. A successful shop in it's own right, Sweet Ring had become a fixture in a town obsessed with keeping things as dated as possible. One may say that Sweet Ring could be considered as a statement against all of the so-called kooky citizens obsessed with religion and old Japanese techniques. Of course this was not the purpose behind the creation of Sweet Ring - it's only purpose was to sell food. And for a shop that only sold sweets and drinks it did quite brilliantly.

At this time, a woman with fish lips and a exotic robe was smiling at a nervous young man. Her smile was so straight, so very perfect that it seemed faked. It was.

"Personally I've never heard of a shop such as thisss!" She slurped. "The food here is so... tasty."

"Ahh, y-yeah." The boy laughed. "That it is. Um, your check is here."

"And with my refined tastes too! Simple plastic food does not do it for me. What even surprised me that they were using forks here! No chopsticks! Quite elegant!" She bared her fangs at the boy. "I'm sure you... know all about elegance."

She brushed her hand against the waiter's arm and he let out a tiny gasp. "Ummm... ahh..." The boy turned to look at his supervisor. "Yes yes... A-Akira-sempai!"

Akira Mido was not in a good mood this morning. He had slept through his alarm, thus giving him NO time to train. This never happened and he had no idea that it would ever happen. So when he saw that Tomoyo Hirooka was at his store again, pestering his new aide Kyo. He walked over to the table and tried to put on a smile though it became very strained when Tomoyo made eye-contact with him.

"Is there a problem here?" Akira asked as he composed himself.

Tomoyo sneered at him. "No, no, not at all boy."

There were only a couple people in Sweet Ring at that time, but had this been the evening everyone in the whole store would turn to look at Akira and the woman. Akira thanked the spirits that she wasn't smart enough to ever think of coming at eight and made a big show. He smiled at her even more brightly, his voice cheerful. He wasn't going to get mad. "I'm sorry but it looks like there really is something. May I remind you of the _last_ time you were here?"

Tomoyo had made the decision to ignore Akira, turning her head away dismissively. This made Akira even more pissed – did this woman have any respect for anyone? He didn't show his disapproval. It was best not to let her notice his anger.

"Listen," Akira said slowly, "I'm not sure what you're planning on proving. I'm just a manager of this store – I don't know about my own father's affairs. However, I do know for certain that he has no place for you, a money-grabbing woman who has no love for him."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I think you do," Akira smiled. "And I also think that you should leave."

Tomoyo snorted like a pig, turning her nose up at Akira. "I already told you that I have no clue of what you are talking about. How dare you insinuate?"

"My father is in a bed right now. He hasn't that much time to live." Akira spoke with his smile still very clear on his face. "And I know you've been targeting him for the past two months. I know the kind of person you really are miss. So, again, I will have to ask you to leave, unless you want to bring the police into this. If that is what you want then I have no reason to say no to that."

Tomoyo didn't respond with words. She only snorted again and walked out of the store. As Akira heard the door chimes shatter again, he let out a loud exacerbated sigh.

"Damn it..." That was close. He thought that he was going to explode there. He had to be calm and composed during this job, and while Akira wasn't entirely the calmest of people he could keep himself under control. But that woman really grinded his nerves! He balled his hand into a fist but realized that his subordinate was right next to him. Akira looked over at him. "You okay Keiichi?"

"Ahh, yeah," the employee stammered. "I was fine from the beginning. You didn't have to step in."

"It's not like I came over to cover you. That woman has been coming here for months asking for my father." Akira sighed again as he smoothed out his apron. "But don't worry about it. We have a few people who are impossible to handle. This is your first job right?"

"Yes, that it is."

Akira forced a weak smile. "So don't worry about it. I won't fire you just because a customer is being especially tough. You gotta be kind to most people though. And stand up straight. You're slouching."

The boy fidgeted and stopped drooping. "Oh! Yes, yes, I'm sorry!"

Akira stopped smiling. He sighed. "Keiichi, stop apologizing for everything."

"Oh, um, yes, um, s-sor – no, I mean, okay."

Just then the phone from inside the kitchen rang and Akira let out a grunt. Who could be calling so early in the friggin morning? Today just wasn't his day! He waved his employee away with a flick of his hand and ran into the kitchen. He reached the phone on it's fourth ring, picking up the receiver hastily and juggled it around for a second. He pushed it against his ear.

"Yes?" He asked impatiently. His features grew softer as he heard who it was. "Oh, hey Ryo. It's been awhile huh? How are you?" He listened, letting out a laugh. "Yeah, he's doing fine. Ol' bastard is tougher than he looks. So I'm taking over as manager of Sweet Ring, s'hard…" He blinked, turning his head away. "Wait, what is it Ryo? You sound like you've seen a ghost…" He hesitated. "W-What are you talking about? Rui? What about her?"

The next part made his blood boil. All self control within him evaporated, and his hand lost it's grip on the phone.

"WHAT?!"

* * *

Nami had certainly changed during the four years since I last seen her. She seemed much paler than she was before, much thinner too. She seemed so light that I figured I could pick her up if I wanted to. Her hands shook as she let go of me, and smiled. At least her smile hadn't changed.

"Oh Atsuki…" She said, just staring at me.

Nami had been one of the few people that I was fond of while I was in Kisaragi. While she could be a little annoying sometimes, I figured that was mostly because she was a little girl at the time. Very active, lots of energy. This Nami seemed… much more reserved. A word that I did not think fitted Nami at all.

"Nami," I said with a small smile. "You've gotten taller. You're nearly as tall as I am."

She smirked and hopped a little on her toes. "I have not Atsuki. I'm still a pipsqueak! And you're still a giant!"

I laugh a bit. "I suppose so, huh?"

I had been so absorbed in speaking with Nami that I had completely forgotten about Russel, who was peeking out over my shoulder at Nami. He chuckled. "Oh, it's little Nami! What are you doing out of school?"

Nami pouted. "Russel-sempai!" She cooed in that familiar sing-song voice of hers. "I'm not little!"

Russel gave a hearty laugh, smooth but deep. "Course you're not. 'Course you're not." Russel looked over at me with a blink. "How do you know Nami?"

"She's the sister of one of my friends." I lied, looking towards Nami quickly. She seemed to catch my drift and went along with it.

She turned to Russel quickly, nodding her head. "Yeah," she quickly conjured up with a tiny little smile. "I haven't seen him in a long time though! He and I go way back!" Nami was always good at telling little white lies, never quite lying to people outright. It was something I had come to feel admirable about.

Like I had suspected Russel bought into it. "Ahh… alright then." He scratched his head. "Lissen' Nami, me and Atsuki need to speak for a little bit. You think you can hang around for a bit?"

"Sure," Nami replied, finally letting go of me. "I'll just wait out here."

Russell managed to unlock the door to his shop and waved me inside. The shop was cramped to say the least. In Tokyo this was to be expected - most of the shops there were small enough to only fit one person to each aisle. However, compared to the other shops in Kisaragi Russell's was almost puny. I managed to squeeze past a tight opening between aisles and met up with Russell at his counter. He was getting something out of the register and he looked to me a little nervous.

"I'll, um, take you into the back," he stammered, taking another key out of the register before closing it.

I watched him. "Why all of the secrecy?" I asked him. "It's as though you're scared."

"That's be'cuz I am," He shook his head as he lead me upstairs, opening the final door at the top of the stairs. "Lissen', just come with me into the back. If I'm going to explain to you what's going on, then I have'tah make sure there's no room for anyone else's ears to hear us." He opened the door, leading me into a more spacious room. Must be his home, I figured. It wasn't exactly neat but it wasn't exactly messy either. Everything seemed half put away, and while the floor was spotless the tables were cluttered with objects. Russell waved me over to a seat across from his bed as he plopped down. I sat down with a sigh. "Alright." He clapped his hands. "What do you want to know?"

I didn't say anything at first. "Wait... what?"

"Well, you're here to investigate. Ask me a question!"

I turned my head to my left, my eyes still connected with his. "I... well, you were shaking like a madman a moment ago. I figured I wouldn't have to ask."

Russell shook his head. "It'll all make sense soon... go ahead little man."

"Tell me everything?"

Russell frowned. "Can yah be a little more specific than that?"

"Well I don't know much."

"Oh!" Russell smoothed out his jeans as he got to his feet. "That's right... I didn't really send that much info over huh? My apologies, I wasn't exactly ready to spool too much out to the FORT y'know?" He walked over to his little kitchen in the corner. "Coffee?"

"Do you have tea?" I asked.

"Ahh," the man grinned. "Not a coffee man huh? I see. I don't make tea that much but I know how, hold on." He shuffled around, placing a kettle full of water down on the stove. "Alright. I figure I should tell you what I know about the girl. It ain't much but..." He let out a grunt out through his nose like that of a pig. He slid over to a jet-black machine, most likely his coffee machine and started to fiddle around with it. "This girl, the one that was murdered. Her name was Rui Yamase, a fortune teller, young girl... Personally I only met her twice, though Nami knows her pretty well. Hah."

"This I already know," I said. "I've been to Kisaragi before. But... didn't Rui commit... suicide?" Those two words, together, made my whole body shudder.

"Oh yeah. That's right. Heh, forgot. Well then! Umm... there's no real way that I know how to put this. It's really embarrassing actually but she sorta... kinda... well, you know how I reported that she committed suicide in the report? That's ex'actlah' how it happened. The lab freaks said that it was by her own hand. I ain't too sure over this though. It felt like there was something wrong."

I kept quiet. This caught Russell off-guard, and his Shinen grew anxious. He clammed up and I knew right then and there he wasn't ready to tell me. Fine enough. I was willing to pull the information out of him, and deep down I think he knew what I was going to do. He knew but he'd rather save face as a scared little rat than a shameful dog with his tail between his legs. If he wasn't going to tell me, then I decided to use my Σ.

As I felt the burn run through my arm and everything turn gray Russell sat there motionless, aware of what I was doing but too nervous to do anything about it. That was his curse. Most people didnt' feel the grey burn like he could. Most people didn't know that I had this power. And the feeling that their mind was that of an open book was greater than any torture or any type of pain. For this I felt sorry for him, but I was not apologetic over what I found.

_"__**She... KNEW about the FORT?"**_ I repeated outloud, the words rolling off my tongue in the most uncomfortable sense. I glared at Russell all the while, who looked spooked.

"Ahh, y-yeah..." He laughed, nervously. "ABOUT that. Heh... I-I had nothing to do with that..."

* * *

"Well?" The coroner spat out with his gruff voice.

Ryo Unami had never seen a dead body before. He had seen them in books, pictures of them, thousands of them. This might have been the only reason he didn't start crying then and there. However, he was speechless. He was sure of, in the whole entire history including the many dreadful things that had happened to him and other much more unfortunate people, that this was the deepest feeling of sorrow that he had ever felt. It didn't help that the body was staring up at him, and IT REALLY DID NOT HELP that the sheet covered up the whole entirety of the neck, leaving only the head out. It was incredibly disturbing, and what was even more unsettling was at the time the only question he had on his mind was not who could have ever done this but was simply why he was even here. Why did they bring in a childhood friend to identify the body? Why?

"Is that her?" The coroner drooled from the bowels of his throat.

Ryo sighed. "Yes." He said, his voice quite grave. "That's her. I've no doubt."

* * *

Akira arrived at the hospital just as Ryo was leaving. Ryo was not confused, because that would require him to not understand and he perfectly understood the situation. He was just conflicted on how to feel, so much so that he didn't realize Akira running upto him until he stopped in front of him, holding his knees. He was panting loudly.

"Ryo." Akira said breathlessly. "Ryo…"

Ryo looked at Akira, concerned. "Wait, Ryo, you didn't run all the way here from Sweet Ring right?"

"Ryo!" Akira ignored his friend's question and grabbed ahold of Ryo's robe tightly, almost ready to rip the fabric off from the seams. "Is it true? Is it her?"

Ryo didn't answer right away. Akira appeared either on the verge of tears or a second away from exploding and it was unsettling for Ryo. He opened his mouth to speak. "I went to go identify the body. Y-Yes, it's her."

Akira growled. "Ahh, jeez, what the hell?!"

"My sentiments exactly Akira. And c-could you let go of my robe?"

Akira let go, clutching his hands together. "What exactly happened to her?!"

Ryo brushed his robe off with his palm. "Well, they haven't done the autopsy yet so they don't know for sure but one of the workers said that her throat was cut clean."

"Shit… seriously? She couldn't have done that herself, could she?"

"Yeah," Ryo nodded. "The man said that there's no doubt that it's a suicide."

"That…" Akira shook his head. "But… argh! Why'd the hell did this have to happen on a bad day like this? This is probably the last thing I would ever want to hear!"

"I'm sorry that it was me who had to break it to you Akira."

"Well, I'm just glad someone fucking called me! And why the hell did they call you in? Yui is the head of the police."

Ryo blinked and adjusted his glasses. "Well, and this is just conjecture, I think Yui isn't… exactly… in any condition. I mean, what with her losing Mako and everyone else in her family…"

"Oh," Akira pulled back, feeling a little ashaimed. "Oh yeah. Mako… wasn't she and Yui…"

"It's no place for me to go speculating on what people are Akira. Neither is it yours."

"Jeez Ryo, I didn't know you could get so… W-Whatever. What about Yayoi? She was Rui's best friend!"

Ryo just glared at Akira. "Please Akira. _**You know Yayoi isn't in the right state of mind. Nami told me that she hasn't even been out of the house in months.**_ So it was either call you or me. Or Mika, though she's probably half-way across the world by now."

"So they went with you?"

"As unpleased as I am about the decision, yes, I was the one."

Akira looked down at the ground and refused to speak. "…"

Ryo crossed his arms. "Listen, Akira, this is quite upsetting. You should get back to the Sweet Ring. Didn't you say-"

"I closed it down." Akira said, sounding a little disgusted. "All day today."

"Oh." Ryo bit his lip. "I think we make some calls. We need to spread the news to some of her friends. Especially Yayoi."

"What about Mika?"

Ryo shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't even heard from her for so long. I figured that you had her number."

Akira tried his best not to grin. "Yeah, that I do. I could call her. Don't' mean she'll pick up."

"It's 'Doesn't mean' Akira…"

"Whatever. I'll give her a call." Akira fished inside of his pocket and pulled out his silver-steel phone, looking over at Ryo. "Um… Ryo, listen… do you think we… should… ugh, should we call him?"

"Him? You mean Shinji? I haven't even heard from the boy in a year. I don't even have his number."

"NO!" Akira barked. "Not him…"

Ryo raised an eyebrow. "Ohh… Him, you mean? Oh yes. I'm not sure. He hasn't even responded to us at all. Has not even made any attempt to contact us. Even if I called him or texted him, I doubt the chances of him picking up are high."

"Should we try though? What kind of friends would we be if we didn't tell him."

Ryo opened his mouth to speak but closed it in all the same moment. He couldn't deny Akira's logic. One of his friends had been killed, so what kind of person would HE be if he decided not to? He let out a loud sigh, coughing into his hand. "Alright. You call him too Akira, I'll handle Yayoi. Tell me if he picks up or not."

* * *

"Well… it wasn't like she KNEW about the FORT from ME. I mean, it's not like I told her..." Russell tried to reassure me. "Lissen', why don't I explain what I know?"

I sat back down. He didn't speak for a few moments in an attempt to coordinate what he was going to say. "Well… May I say first that I really have no idea who the girl is apart from her being a psychic or fortune teller? I mean that's what lil' Nami told me. Also said she could read into the future right?

"I know what you're thinking." I interrupted. "She can't read minds."

Russell let out a sigh of relief. "Thank gawd. Thought she just read my mind like a book! So, well, gosh, I don't know how to explain it but she somehow knew. Two days ago that girl came into my shop and started asking me questions. Seemed pretty angry too! _**'Shinen'**_ this and 'Serial Killer' that. She even mentioned a name, Saijo. I had no idea who she could have been talking about until I met you, of course.

I closed my eyes. "That's… probably me. It has to be me. There's no other Saijo that she could be talking about." But why? How did she know me and Russell worked for the same group?

"Yeah. After awhile I got mighta' pissed and asked her what she was talking about. She was rambling on and on and I had no clue what she was friggin talking about. That's when she mentioned the FORT and said something along the lines of 'If you don't answer my questions then I'm not going to able to help you, trust me.' Seemed pretty nervous too, kept telling me that I had to answer her!"

"You know, you don't have to imitate her voice."

"Yeah! I know!" Russell sneered. "Still though, she was pestering me so much that it just unnerved me, so I kicked her out! Told her that she was crazy! I didn't wanna hear her out, which was probably my huge mistake because of what eventually happened to her. Poor gal."

"That's just it!" Russell said, his eyes darting to the floor. "I dun' think she could have killed herself. You can't just accidentally slit your own goddamn throat like a cow. You have to know exactly what you're doing, have a friggin huge tolerance for pain. I just don't think a girl, who seemed so determined to go an' find answers would just kill herself.

"You think it's something else entirely?"

"Yeah…" Russell looked back up at me. "Yaknow what I think?" He asked. "I think it was that serial killer that's been prowling around town."

I brushed my hair out of my eyes. "I heard you mention something about a killer before. How long has this been going on?"

"_**Oh boy, for the past several year or so!**_ Way before I came here! S'practically a scare to go outside during the night now! What's even worse is that the police have had no leads, not even a clue! They keep telling the public that they have the whole thing down pat, that they have some leads but they' jus' lying through their teeth. The public is gettin' restless too."

Several years? True, there was a serial killer doing terrible things when I was in Kisaragi but we found the guy. We put him away, me, Nami, Akira… Akira. My mind wandered to the boy for a moment. He always pretended that he knew what he was doing but he was confused about himself, about the kind of person he really was. Had he found his own goal in life? Perhaps I could visit Sweet Ring, unless if that interrupted the mission.

"The real kicker is that the murderer, he 'as no set pattern. He does different stuff to each body, like he gets bored just doing one sick thing all the time. His first murder was a decapitation! Dumped the body in a different town!"

"You mean the teacher from Kisaragi?"

"Yeah! The guy was a photographer, I think, I don't know the poor bastard personally."

If this were true, if they had mistaken this victim for some other series of murders, then the police really hadn't a slightest clue.

"Have many of the victims been decapitatied?" I asked hesitantly.

"Just one. Bunch of others were disemboweled too. All the bodies were dumped out of town but they were all from Kisaragi! About twenty-somethun'. And that girl, Rui, she was asking about that!"

"Hmm…"

Russell rubbed his arm. "Yah really think it has somethin' to do with Silent? I'm no master at Silent-knowledge but she was talkin' about it like she knew exactly what it was."

"I wouldn't hazard to guess that she didn't know something." I replied. "Even if this is unrelated to Silent, it wouldn't hurt to check."

Russell beamed a great big smile. "Hahah. See'? I knew yah'd see it my way. Lissen. I know I kinna' lied in my report to HQ but you just gotta investigate. I keep thinkin' I'm being watched but you're trained to deal with these types'a situations. Please?"

I shrugged. "Well then. I suppose that I must." I was only pretending to be less than thrilled to help. The events that Russell vaguely told me had peaked my interests. What had Rui known that had driven her to suicide? Or, more importantly, what had she known that was so important that she had to be killed to keep quiet? Or had she known nothing at all? I was curious, not only as an investigator but as a friend. A friend of a girl who died like a dog.

The first thing I had to do was get in touch with Yui. As pained as she was, she would have to know about Rui. I looked at Russell, my eyes unyielding. "Do you have a phone somewhere around here?"

I had connections with the police of Kisaragi the last time I visited. Thanks to my earlier visits, the police department had figured me for a Criminal Profiler, a high ranked one at that. Quite the achievement for someone so young, but it was all a lie. Everything is a lie once you really dig down to the grit – success in life only depends on how well you can use these lies to your benefit.

It appeared that my luck had not run out for they actually remembered me. I asked for them to put me in with Yui Yamase and they quickly directed me to her extension. She picked up after a few rings.

"Yes?!"

Her voice was angry. It didn't take much to tell that.

"Yui, this is Saijo. Saijo Atsuki."

There was a pause on the line. "Who?!"

This came as a shock to me. She didn't remember me? And yet the police officers, her subordinates did? I cleared my throat. "I'm an officer from the capital. I was just asking-"

"Oh! I bet I know what this is! A member of the press just looking to trick me into giving out information!"

I didn't say anything. It was understandable, her losing her sister. But her act right now seemed paranoid. "N-No, that isn't tru-"

"TODAY is your lucky day. There's going to be a press release later today! We caught the man who is responsible for this! So stop calling me!"

And she hung up.

"W-What happened?" Russell stared at me. "I could hear that chick screaming her lungs out from over here!"

"She said she found the man responsible. I can only assume it's the man responsible for her sister's death, though she didn't say that outloud."

"I'm guessin' asking her for information is outta' the question?"

"Not entirely but…" I didn't have an answer. Where should I start? "To be honest… I think I should come back later. I need to think for a little while."

"Ahh!" Russell got up from his seat, bowing his head in a overly-formal gesture. "Well, come back anytime yah' like. S'not like I'll be going anywhere anytime soon."

I gave him a nod right back. "Right. Thank you for your help."

Even though it wasn't that helpful.

Nami was waiting patiently outside when I came out of the shop, her back pressed up against a nearby wall. How long had I been in there? It certainly seemed like more than an hour but here she was, waiting there like I had only just stepped in for a second. She gave me a smile as I met her gaze, pushing off of the wall. "So, um, how did it go?"

"Fine," I said simply, not really wanting to go into details.

"Oh," she said. This caught my intention – no silly remark? That seemed almost unlike the Nami I used to know. She reached out and grabbed hold of my hand. "Here, c'mon, let's go somewhere."

I didn't argue with her. She tugged me by the arm and led me down the road to, where else, the very same playground she always went to, near Yuhigaoka House. She smiled, letting go of my hand finally as she turned back.

"Um, I-I really don't know what to say!" She laughed. "It's just a surprise to even see you…"

"To be honest I didn't think I would come back either, but here I am."

Nami smiled as she plopped down on one of the swings. "I-I guess. Heh. Jeez, I'm getting all flustered."

"By the way, shouldn't you be in school?"

Nami tilted her head, rubbing the bridge of her small nose with the side of her finger. "I skipped." She put it quite bluntly. "I was with another friend but I sorta lost her in town."

"Ahh." I nodded. "How's your sister?"

Nami clammed up and nodded. "She's, ahh, not so good. She's fine but at the same time she isn't fine…"

"Really?"

Nami sighed. "It's not like I'm going to lie to you. It'd be impossible to LIE to you Atsuki. She's like her old self but different…." She shook her head. "I really can't believe it. REALLY. It's you. What are you doing here anyway?"

"Oh." I said, preparing to lie right through my teeth. "I'm here to visit. I heard about Rui and…"

"I know why you're here Atsuki." Nami blinked. "Don't lie to me."

"I… um… W-What?"

Nami's face grew blank. "Rui was murdered last night. There's no way you could have known that. Russell must have told you."

I didn't know what to say. I kept quiet.

"Atsuki. I know you came here because of Rui's murder but it's not because you just want to visit. Be honest with me. I would never lie to you like you're planning on lying to me."

"…" I finally opened my lips. "Didn't Rui kill herself?"

"No." Nami said detachedly. "No, she didn't. Rui was the one who did it. She didn't do it herself though, she was forced. I don't know how to explain it any better than that."

"But how do you know this for certain."

"She said so." Nami frowned. "Granted she didn't tell me directly, but I heard it all the same. I heard how it was supposed to happen. _**She knew about it ahead of time and yet she went to the crime scene knowing that there was little chance she would ever come out alive."**_

"What do you mean?" I said with a smirk. "So, did a little bird tell you that?

Nami froze and looked away from me. "Ahh, well… no. I don't think I could hear it from any animal."

"What do you mean? You have Melody, don't you?"

"Melody died a month afterwards Atsuki. The poor dog… she was comatose on the floor all day and night."

I felt a pinch of guilt rise up from my chest. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring that up but if that's the caase, then why can't you speak to them?"

"It's fine." Nami said and bit her lip. "But… Ever since she died…" She gave me a pleading look, her hands tightly wrapped together. "I can't HEAR them anymore. Maybe I lost my power or maybe they're just refusing to speak to me. I don't know why but they won't say a word, won't even utter a peep!

"That is strange."

Nami stared into my eyes. "_**But I can hear Russell… and I can hear everyone else Atsuki. Even you. I can hear you right now.**_ "

"Hear me?"

"Yeah. You're not even saying anything but you're talking. Why is that? It's been like this for years… Atsuki. Is this your power? Why can't I shut it off? Please tell me Atsuki, I think I'm going insane."

* * *

"The grand master is a man of ostentatious taste." The man in the wireframe glasses said as he got off the plane. His voice was gruff but within the vastness laid elegance and élan. He had the voice and appearance of a leader, not an underling. "A man who lusts for perfection as though it is the only reason he lives. He is also a man who does not enjoy those who fail, or waste time, or even speaks about him behind his back, all of which you have been doing ever since we got here. I would rather not have him displeased." "So you do best to remember that my eyes and ears are owned only to him."

"Whaaaat?" The young boy smirked. "I'm only saying that he should get a new hat. Thing is tattered."

"It matters not an ounce."

"Fine." The boy shrugged. "How far is this town?"

"About twenty miles. Why?"

"Well it's boring!"

"Oh please. Can't you act like an adult for five seconds?"

"Heh. Says you. I bet his Kisaraga isn't that great of a challenge. We only have to pop in and out."

"Kisaragi. The name is KE-SAH-RA-GE. You have no tongue for foreign languages."

"Whatever. I just think the guy is blowing steam over nuffin'."

* * *

Author's note – Pay close attention guys. Everything in bold and Italics signifies a clue. Follow along with the story! :D Thanks for reading guys, really! If you have any cool ideas of where this plot can go, I'd love to hear them. It can go anywhere right now honestly.


	4. The Mind Wanders

**VI**

**The Mind Wanders  
**

**_WELCOME TO KISARAGI. HOME OF THE OLD JAPAN. POPULATION 4,965_**

_This world has always been so sad. It makes my eyes tear up just thinking about it. I cry every morning for a multitude of reasons. The main reason being that our world is so pathetic that it can't ever EVER merit another day of life. You may also say that I cry because I simply have no one to love me. I'll concede to this. I have no one. You're right. No one loves me. I have, as you might say, no one to love. Love is a lie though. There is no such thing as emotion or LOVE. Love is just an excuse for pathetic humans to procreate, like they are embarrassed of the act of making kin. So I don't need love to survive. All I need is a head on my shoulders and purpose in life. _

_A new boy came into town today. Yes… but why does he seem so familiar? It must be my imagination. From some of the reactions of the people who have met up with him, he must have been here before. And yet for some reason I don't remember who he is. It is strange. I must watch him, if only to make sure he is not a threat._

_Then again… it is not like he is a super hero anyway. No special powers. I might as well be wasting my time._

_

* * *

_

"Home of the… old Tokyo?"

The boy with the fiery hair read the sign with dismay. He did a double-take of the city before him like a man unsure of exactly what he was looking at. He sneered. "Was this the place the boss was talking about?" He asked his partner who was cleaning his sunglasses. "IS THIS the place he was making such a big fuss over?"

His partner did not speak for a few seconds as he slipped his sunglasses back onto his face.

"…I suppose it is." He muttered.

"Seriously?" The boy did another double-take. "I was expecting some rundown piece ah' junk town! This place almost looks… pedestrian. NORMAL. No way… this ain't the place."

The man, sporting a rather large trenchcoat, groaned at his partner's clear naivety. "Of course it looks normal. It's_ always_ the normal, everyday towns that we get sent to. If we were sent to rundown, crime-infested dumps, we would make no impact. You see what I mean don't you?"

"Well, y'ah, o'course. But the boss made such a big deal about this place, my expectations were high. This place looks boor-iiing."

"And your observations are coming from your first look at Kisaragi, from up here, on a bridge?"

The boy opened his mouth to say something but closed it just as quickly.

"That's what I thought."

The man fished out a notepad from his breast pocket and flipped it open. He began to scribble extensive and exact notes, ignoring his own partner's impatient glares.

"If you think that staring at me is going to get our job done," he said bluntly, "it won't. You can stand there all day if you want though."

"Shaddap." The boy cooed. "The more time we waste, the more pissed the boss gets."

"To be frank, I'm not as worried about _him_ as I am of our target. I think our employer would be most pleased if we come back from this job alive, considering how it's a close to a suicide mission as you could get. Although that is me speaking."

The boy nodded. "Ahh, yeah, I see's whatchu mean. He made a big deal about it to be sure."

"Indeed." The man said, putting the notepad away. "Then let's not waste any more time."

* * *

Nami grew quiet, her hands trembling looking down at her feet, not in shame but rather waiting for me to make a move. She was upset and for all intent and purposes I couldn't blame her, despite not quite understanding what she was talking about. However I didn't want to make a move that she would know about, though in this case I really had no choice.

"You… can read minds?"

"Yes. No. I mean." Nami sighed. "I don't understand it Atsuki and it's hard to explain."

"Try me."

"Hah... I doubt you'd even believe me."

I didn't say anything. I didn't like repeating myself, and Nami realized this on my face. She looked down, fidgeting.

"Well..." she hesitated. "Say you were to say something in your head, like a complete sentence. You always talk to yourself in your own mind and I believed that everyone's thoughts ran like that. But... well, I can't hear people's thoughts. I can't hear those people taking in their heads. Yet there's this voice, and it sounds so calm, and it tells me things. Tells me words, not sentences just words and... I don't know what to think of it, but I get the gist... I-I..." She stopped and just looked at me "You can tell can't you? I don't need to say anything else… You can feel it right?"

I nodded.

"So you believe me, right?"

I looked away for only a second. Russell had said something along those lines and Nami somehow knew. So for the time being she was making sense.

I scanned her Shinen quickly for any abnormalities. My arm goes numb in pain. Whenever I scan a person, the pain is beyond all I could imagine but I've learned to ignore it. She didn't appear to have any unusual patterns and her Shinen were as they should be for a teenager. Definitely no Silent, from a first glace. This made the whole thing even stranger. There were a few cases of mind reading within Silent infectees, not to mention many other strange powers. So Nami, a girl who at one time could only speak to animals, can now somehow hear people's thoughts. This was strange. What was even more strange was that I couldn't even feel her trying to read my mind.

"When did you discover you can hear people?" I asked, wanting to only understand the situation.

"Um... I don't remember." Nami looked away.

"Could you make a guess?"

Nami shrugged her tiny shoulders again, looking embarrassed to be admitting it. "Two, three years ago. I'm sorry, I didn't expect that I would ever tell anyone."

"Don't worry about it." I told her. "So, I guess I have to assume that no one knows about it other than me."

She shook her head. "No, just you." Nami tilted her head, looking me straight in the eyes. "So. Are you going to explain to me why you're here? It's about Rui right?"

I sighed. "Alright... alright... It is about Rui dying. That's all I can say."

Nami blinked. "That's _all _you're willing to give up? Come on Atsuki." She puffed her cheeks out. "I told you my big secret. You're here to investigate the murder right?"

"We're still not sure if it is a murder or not."

"Atsuki. Listen to yourself. Now you only knew Rui for a month but she was a fortune teller, a person who reads fortunes. Rui lived her life to help others. She was sad, yeah, sure, but she was never depressed. She was never suicidal. No matter how much you fling the excuse around, you have to admit that Rui would have never killed herself... Not until she saw you again."

At the edges of my lips, I could feel myself begin to frown.

"Oh, she was never in love with you Atsuki," Nami waved a hand to stop my train of thought. She smiled. "Not like that. Rui just liked you for who you were. You were mysterious. You listened. She thought that she had found someone who understood her."

"..."

"She never got to say goodbye you know." Nami continued. "I was the lucky one. I got to see you leave. She chased after you, all the way up to the bridge and she just missed you. She was very heartbroken over that."

"You say all of that as though she told you herself."

Nami poked the side of her head, her tongue between her teeth. "She did tell me... technically. Without her knowing about it."

"Hmph. That doesn't change the fact that I'm not letting you help me."

"Ahh, wait!" Nami grinned. I didn't like that grin. "I see how it is. Alright, I think I get it." She waved her hand around. "You're investigating a death. So the first person you would want to speak to is the _next-to-kin right_? But you can't get to her, _right?_"

"..."

"Heehee. Believe me now? I can read minds! And it just so happens that I know Yui personally." She giggled. "She doesn't remember who you are, I don't think. I could help you get in to speak to her. And if I can't do that, well," she poked her forehead, "I can see what's on her mind myself."

"..."

"Come on Atsuki!" Nami told me, tilting her head. "I wanna find what really happened to Rui as much as you. Let me help however I can."

I sigh. "I don't know Nami. This is all so sudden." I looked at her. "You promise not to tell a soul."

"Aww come on Atsuki? When have I ever broken a promise?"

"I really wouldn't know that. We barely know each other."

Nami shrugged. "That's a matter of opinion. Don't be so suspicious! You know I would do anything for you!"

I nod. "Alright. Alright. You got it."

Nami bounced on her toes. "Okay!

Just then a cascade of barks filled the air. Nami opened her eyes in surprise, fishing into her pocket. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked it. "Oh! Alright! I'll see you tommorrow!"

"Huh... what?" I stared at her. "Why are you leaving so suddenly?"

Nami frowned. "Well..." She sputtered. "**I-I should have gone home like a hour ago. **I was staying out too long. Sorry Atsuki!"

The girl turned and ran down the street. It was all very sudden but I didn't care. Not really. She would find me somehow. She always does. I sighed again and just headed away from the playground.

* * *

"Where were you?"

"Nowhere."

"Nowhere? Nami, it's seven at night!"

"Don't worry. I was just hanging out with Mayuri."

"...Really?"

"Yeah! Well, bye!"

**"... but... Nami, you couldn't... ahh... nevermind."**

* * *

Paris was a very pretty city, Mika had noticed once she?

Mika Nozaki stretched and felt a slight pop somewhere in her back. She closed her eyes as she tried to wiggle out of the heavy blankets she found herself in. Last night had been the best sleep she had ever experience. She definitely had to thank the higher ups for getting her a classy room for once. Even though she felt very refreshed, she was up pretty damn early. She looked at the clock dismissively as she got up from the plush bed. Mika didn't really want to get up… but it wasn't her choice to make. She was so used to sleeping in too!

Mika wandered into the bathroom and flicked the light on. She smiled into the mirror and thought about just how lucky she was. There were bags under her eyes, her complexion looked terrible and her make up from the night before was running (she had not cleaned up from before) but she still smiled. At least her blue hair was as straight as always. She ran a hand through her flowing locks.

Life was great for Mika. Her dream had come true – she was working for a news agency! The youngest person there! How cool was that? Of course she was only an assistant, a lowly lackey who got no credit for any stories she would ever happen to break However Mika was perfectly happy with this. It would serve her quite well in the task of climbing the news food chain. At least she hoped.

Of course, one of the things that Mika was not so thrilled about was how early she had to wake up every morning. Tonight was unusual - it was later than she usually managed. She would usually wake up at two AM if she were lucky! Tonight she was lucky enough to get a few hours extra sleep. She yawned. Even with the extra sleep, it didn't help matters. She still had to get ready. She left the bathroom and went over to the phone on the desk. Mika picked it up and dialed valet parking.

_"Bonjour."_ She said into the phone.

_"Bonjour madame. Comment allez-vous?"_

Mika blinked, rubbing her arm. _"Pourriez-vous conduire ma voiture à l'avant? " _

The voice on the other end hesitated in his response. _"Naturellement_." The young sounding male responded in an oddly cheerful falsetto. _"Laquelle_ _nombre est votre coup manqué de voiture?"_

Mika furrowed her eyebrows. "Umm… 43?" She stammered. Mika wasn't exactly sure of what the valet boy had said and was only guessing. She fished the valet tag from her pocket. "A-Ahh! _Quarante-trois. O-Oui, quarante-trois._"

The voice on the other end chuckled. Obviously it was common to see an English speaking woman attempting to speak French if only for the sake of being polite. _"Très bon."_ The voice said slowly, and Mika imagined the boy bowing. _"Avec plasir. Au revoir."_

Mika hung up and let out a sigh. She rubbed her eyes. It was time to get up Mika, enough of this wasting time.

That was when her cell phone rang. So much for getting up. Mika let out a loud sigh as she reached back to the desk. She grabbed her phone and flicked it open without looking at who was calling. She pressed it against her ear, rolling her eyes.

"Hello?" She said impatiently. She heard the voice on the other end. "Oh! A-Akira! Hi!" She laughed nervously. "Sorry that I haven't called in so long. They've been running me ragged, haha! I'm sorry that I haven't called in awhile… hmm? Akira, what's wrong? You sound down… what?"

* * *

I reached my assigned apartment after walking a few blocks away from the other apartments. It was a small cubbyhole built next to an even smaller candy shop. It looked alright on the outside, decent enough for me to sleep in. My memories drifted back to the apartment I used to share right next to Ryo's shop. I wondered if he still worked here. Was that shop still open? I shook my head. Now was not the time to think. Maybe when I had free time. Not now though. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my key. I unlocked the door. I opened it.

To say that the apartment was a dump would be the biggest act of leniency one could ever commit.

The wallpaper was torn and the parts that still remained were stained with brown splotches. The floor seemed to have a layer of dust covering it until I realized that the floor was a rug, a dirty gray looking rug that disgusted me to even THINK of walking across it barefoot. Even though the outside looked small, the inside was even smaller. The bed was the worst - it looked like it was made out of brick. I pressed down on it with my hand. It was as hard as brick.

I sighed. No reason to complain. You had to adapt to these kinds of situations. Even so, I figured that the FORT would accommodate me for a mission like this. I rolled my eyes and dropped my bag and contemplated about my day. About my job.

My job? If you could call it that. It is more like a place for me to go. I've got nowhere else to be and there is definitely no one who would ever want me. The FORT is the only place that would accept me and it isn'tn't my place to go and complain. It's sad but it's true. Perhaps Kisaragi would have accepted me years ago but that's as far as I would go with that.

My mind wanders.

* * *

Akira growled as he walked the streets with his hands dug deep in his pockets. He really wanted to kick himself, hard. How could he have been so heartless? He had been so blunt in his approach of Rui, and look at what happen! Now Mika was probably crumpled on the floor, crying her heart out, and it was all his fault. Akira had a habit of being blunt, and normally if someone's feelings were hurt he would just write it all away. It's better to find out his way than finding out months later or something. But this was Mika. She was like a sister to him, a close friend for years and he made her cry like that! What was he thinking?

"Ahh… damn it. I'm really stupid sometimes…"

He stopped at a corner, rubbing his hands together. Even though it was getting close to summer, the air was cold. Akira had only gone out in a light shirt that did nothing to shield him from the bitter cold outside. It wasn't even realistic, this cold! The sun was still out! Jeez!

Akira looked up. Huh. He had stopped in front of Rui's building. She had never lived with her sister – her home was with her sister but Rui always slept in her office. Akira felt a little awkward standing here. It was bringing up memories of Rui, and the last thing Akira wanted was to even think about Rui. He couldn't help himself though. All the happy times with the blonde flooded his mind and soon she was the only thing ON his mind. He grew frustrated. Rui had always been an open friend, but there was always this veil of secrecy that she kept with all of her friends. It was like he knew her without really knowing her. Damn it. Was the Rui so depressed that she would take her own life in an alley of all places?

"Damn it Rui… you knew you could have talked to us. We would have listened."

Rui was a fortune teller. Every day after school, she would head back to this very apartment and set up shop. As far as fortune tellers go, she was pretty popular with the townsfolk. She always had clients coming in, and plenty of regulars. The only problem with her abilities, apparently, was that she could see everyone's future but her own. Akira found this extremely ironic for some reason. What would she do if she found out that she would go down this road? Would she just shrug it off? Say that was how it worked?

Akira found himself staring up at the building for who knows how long. He was so deeply in thought that he didn't realize that someone had snuck up behind him. Not until the person started talking to him.

"Nice night ain't it?" The boy with the fiery red hair said, his hands dug into his pockets.

Akira just looked over at the boy with half interest, half annoyance. This kid was weird looking, and that smile on his face was creeping him out. He certainly didn't look like he was from around here. Damn punk. Even so, Akira kept his cool. He had to work hard to keep himself bottled. He used to go off the handle constantly but now he was cool.

"Yeah," Akira closed his eyes. "Though it depends on your definition of night. Sun's still out."

The boy just shrugged. "Night enough for me." He grinned.

Akira did not like that grin. It made him nervous. The boy quickly reached into the back pocket of his pants and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He unfolded it, straightening it out before showing it to Akira. "I'm going to cut to the chase. Have you seen this girl before?"

Akira looked at the photo. His blood went cold. There... what? The photo was of two people, a boy with green hair waving in the background and a girl leaning over a motorcycle, a big silly grin on her face. Her skin was tanned deeply, to the point that her whole body took a brown hue. Her eyes were wide with surprise, as though someone had caught her by surprise. Her light blonde hair was flipped, covering her thick forehead with her locks. Her lips pale, her nails colored deep red and her teeth white. Akira didn't answer the man for a very long time, staring down at the picture. He'd know that bike anywhere. He'd know that FACE anywhere. And

"Well?" The boy asked, exuding impatience.

"Who wants to know?" Akira responded coldly.

"I do," The boy smirked. "Why tha' hell would I ask you if I didn't want to know?"

"I don't know anyone like that."

"I'd beg to differ." He pointed to the boy way back in the picture. "This is you, right?"

Akira sighed. He was a terrible liar. "Alright, yeah, yeah, you've got me. That's me."

The boy with the red haired beamed. "See? We worked something out. Now, do you know anything about the girl?"

"Why?"

The boy rolled his eyes. "Feh. Lissen', I ain't got time for this shit alight? The girl is named Rui Yamase, and while I don't know your name, I DO know that you knew this young lady right here." He grit his teeth

"She's dead."

The boy stopped. He looked confused. "Um, what?"

Akira stared at the boy, his eyes cold. "I said she was dead.

The boy looked pained. "Wait, really? Oh shit." He looked down. "Oh... shit..."

Akira kept going. "She killed herself last night. Don't ask me how. Don't ask me why. I don't know anything else. And I'm not a fan of repeating myself. So if there isn't anything else, I think I'll just leave." Akira turned his head away. "Have a nice night."

Akira left as quickly as he could. Under normal circumstances, he would have beat the crap out of the freak. That look the guy gave him though... it looked like he hadn't been expecting to hear that she was dead. That filled Akira's chest with a weird feeling of despair and he knew right away that he had to leave. He gulped. Who was that guy, and how the hell did he know Rui?

* * *

"That girl," the man spoke slowly, trying to understand everything. "is dead."

The boy nodded. "That green haired guy, said she killed herself!"

The man adjusted his sunglasses. He would have been annoyed at his partner. Not that the boy had did anything wrong. In fact he actually did everything right. However, he would most definitely take his own frustrations out on him, both for the failed assignment and just how nervous his partner had become. He looked down at his watch, his face mixed between that of confusion and dismay. He turned back up to his partner, pushing his sleeve back over his watch.

"That's impossible." He said. "She wouldn't have ever killed herself."

The boy growled. "A'course I know that! You told me that while we were coming over here!"

"Then... why would she be dead?"

The boy's grew more aggravated. "The hell am I supposed to know that? The green haired guy said she was dead, that she killed herself and ran off!"

"It would explain the police tape over her office," The man said, taking out his notepad and taking a few notes in it. "Still, the fact of the matter was that our target was not depressed at all. And if she was, she wouldn't have killed herself. She was quite aware of her own role."

"Unless she were really stupid." The boy nodded. "And forgot."

The man shook his head. "She could see into the future. I find it highly unlikely if she just 'forgot', as you say."

"Then how the hell is she dead Krauss?" The boy spat. "Not unless someone casually fucking cut her from ear to ear, I don't see how it's possible. She had no enemies, never went out at night, and the building she stayed in was under surveillance. No one could break in without someone else noticing. So how do you suppose she died? Why don't you try explaining it to me, cuz I don't see how the hell this is possible."

Krauss just shook his head. "You've got me..." He paused. "Unless..."

"Unless?"

Krauss grew grim. "... This is bad. We might have to report back. Looks like things aren't as in the dark as we first imagined. Though with that hair, I wouldn't be surprised if our whole cover was blown."

"Yah really think it's that ba- Hey! I like my hair!"

Krauss grinned. "Shut up and start dialing."


End file.
